Reviews by Philousa:

Pours a murky black, rusty brown on the edges against the light. The head is tan and billowy and dissipates quick to a thin, patchy layer over the top. Lots of roasted malts in the nose, coffee, and chocolate with a creamy lactic facet to it. The cream starts the taste buds off, moving to chocolate and bitter coffee, then to vinous hop bitterness. Feel is slightly thick with a clean, dry finish.

This isn't much of an IPA in the nose or flavor, but then again my nose is a bit congested. A damn good beer though, if thought of as a porter.

More User Reviews:

Clean head gradually gave way to intimidatingly black brew.
Smelled and appeared heavier and more malt-forward than it proved to be... a good thing if you came looking for an ale, like I did.

I wish I could go back and taste this blind, because I suspect visual + olfactory-based expectations may have biased my impression of flavor! I do my best to dissociate these biases in the description below.

Squid Ink strikes a healthy balance between malt and hops. True to its color, it has substantial malty character; hearty, but not overbearing. Hops shine through after it first hits the palate, and the finish is crisp enough to remind you that (contrary to outward appearances) you are, in fact, drinking an ale, and yes, you would like another round.

Had this last Wednesday night at La Trappe during the first public offering by the brewery. The review is from notes taken on my iPhone.

A: The beer was served in a house tulip glass and the color was a dark like coffee. There was iittle head development, but a fine tan rime of head with nice lacing and legs remained through the session.

S: There was a roasted malt and coco aroma. The slightly sweet smell had notes of bright herbal and citrus fruit hops. This brightness nicely complimented the toasty dark ale smells.

T: Roasted malts are quite apparent - perhaps not too different than many black lagers; however, the real treat comes before the roasted sweetness, which gives way to a resiny grapefruit hop flavor. The finish is dry with a parsley bitterness.

M: This one starts with fine carbonation giving it a creamy quality that I haven't sampled in other black lagers, but yet has a bright hoppy tone. Quite drinkable.

Black IPA? This doesn't seem very hoppy, though brewer says this is 54 IBUs. Nearly black and lives up to its name in appearance, at least.

Tastes just like a big stout with just a scratch of hops. Winey finish with a hint of sweet vermouth. Pleasant nutty flavor with a touch of pecans and a little brown sugar. Finally it goes out with a hoppy bitterness, but it's quite earthy and grimy. A pleasant maltiness but overall it's not very interesting.

Lives up to its name with a dense black color topped by a tan head that dissolves to a ring of foam, leaving a bit of lacing on the glass.

Nose of dark roasted malt and orange/citrus.

Appealing taste of charred malt and orange. Has just enough sweetness to balance the char. Little bitter in the finish. Cascade hopping is nicely done along with some other hops adding more citrus/grapefruit rind. But it is not a hop bomb at all.

Body is medium for a stout, a bit dense for an IPA. It has a nice creamy mouthfeel.

Overall, borders on a medium body stout. But whatever you want to call it, I thought it is a good winter beer choice. Although it is not very complicated, it is smooth and pleasant. I enjoyed drinking this enough to have a second pint.

Smells of roasted malt. Can't pick up any hops in the nose. So much for this being a black IPA. At least it's black.

Before I can taste, it's readily apparent this is a sticky beer. Over pour has my fingers sticking to the glass. Lips, too, for that matter. Taste agrees with the nose: all malt. At least in the front and mid palette. Nice chocolate malts at that, with a thicker body than anticipated. Maybe some oatmeal in there to thicken it up? Very appropriate for a beer called squid ink: it has the body of a sauce thickened with ink. I like that.

Back end is bitter. There's your hops. It just takes a while for them to swim through the sticky malt forward brew this is.

Enjoyable beer. But it's lacking for a black IPA, which is the style the brewer refers this as. Black ale may be more appropriate, but its close to an imperial porter. And sticky as all get out.

The first time I had a dark ale from Pac Brew Lab was back when they were still doing tasting sessions out of their garage, so was excited to finally get around to having Squid Ink on tap. The dark ipa category is an odd one though, something like a thick ipa or a hoppy stout, kind of combining the characteristics of both.

The appearance nails the squid ink name, dark and murky looking. Scent had distinct pine in it, and taste was smooth and roasted-chocolatey, and fairly bitter toward the end, but not overly so. Really enjoyed the flavor of this beer and worth having a few rounds.

Thick beer. Doesn't quite strike me as a black IPA since there seem to be no strong hop characteristics. It strikes me more as a porter. Regardless of classification, the beer is sound. Nice body, great consistency. The only drawback is a biting carbonation to it. Gnaws at my tongue a bit too much. Regardless. I like this beer. Nice execution from a new nano brewery. Keep it up gentlemen.

This pours a rich black with a nice creamy head to it. Malty sweet notes dominate the aroma, followed by a light roast and some hop presence. The flavor is hoppy enough to scratch an itch but its definitely more on the malty side of things. Almost like a hoppy amber/porter with an orange preserves flavored character.